Today, words like “organic,” “green” and “non-toxic” are everywhere. But for my dad, Jaime Perez, choosing safer cleaning products was never about following a trend. It was personal.
My dad has spent more than 30 years in the cleaning industry. Over those years, he lost more than one colleague in the cleaning profession to cancer. Watching people he knew become sick made him think seriously about something most of us probably never consider: What are we exposing ourselves to when we clean?
For someone who cleans professionally, exposure isn’t occasional. It’s day after day, year after year—breathing in products as they’re sprayed and using them with your hands for hours at a time.
My dad began asking himself why he would want his employees, his clients or himself continually exposed to harsh chemicals if there were safer ways to get a home beautifully clean.
That question ultimately became part of the foundation of Organic Cleaning Supreme.
And years later, research has given us even more reason to think about what we’re breathing.
A 2018 study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine followed more than 6,000 people from 22 study centers for approximately 20 years. Researchers found that women who regularly cleaned at home or worked professionally as cleaners experienced a faster decline in certain measures of lung function compared with women who did not regularly clean. The researchers also found associations between the use of cleaning sprays and other cleaning agents and accelerated lung-function decline.
The study doesn’t mean that every conventional cleaning product is dangerous, nor does it prove that cleaning products cause cancer. But it does raise an important question: If we can reduce unnecessary chemical exposure in the places where we spend our lives, why wouldn’t we?
The EPA also notes that many cleaning and disinfecting products can release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the air, and that certain VOCs can have short- and long-term health effects.
For us, this isn’t only about the people doing the cleaning. It’s about the families who live in the homes we clean—the children playing on the floors, the pets, older adults, and everyone breathing the air after we’ve finished.
And our responsibility doesn’t stop at the front door.
What we use eventually has to go somewhere. Cleaning products can enter wastewater systems, and the EPA notes that some cleaning-product ingredients can pose concerns for aquatic life or affect water quality. Choosing safer, more environmentally responsible products helps reduce what we’re putting back into our environment.
That’s why our commitment at Organic Cleaning Supreme has never simply been about making a home look clean.
My dad built this company around the belief that we should care about how we get it clean, too.
We want to protect the people who trust us with their homes. We want to protect the employees who work hard for us every day. And we want to make choices that are kinder to the environment we’ll leave to the next generation.
For my dad, that mission began many years ago.
For our family, it’s still the purpose behind everything we do.
Organic Cleaning Supreme is Marin County’s premier green, eco-friendly cleaning company, trusted by families for over 30 years. We help create healthier homes by reducing exposure to harsh chemicals with non-toxic cleaning you can feel good about. Call us at 415-519-7404 today and ask about our Fall New Client Special!
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